AlexUK

For CMx3: 
Crouched run. Some way of moving faster than the crawl while keeping a relatively low profile.  A new target order exclusively for throwing grenades (while staying prone/in cover, if possible). In close assault situations, you don't want your riflemen to stand up and go "peng, peng, peng!". You want them to go "boom!" An easier way (requiring fewer clicks) to make soldiers stay prone but NOT withhold their fire. Right now, the way to go is to use a "hide" command in combination with a 360° target arc (which in turn, means that you can't fine tune the facing/usage of cover). Also, the hide command reduces spotting capabilites (soldiers go through "hide" tasks, not just idle and spotting).

I would bet that it is the problem with the AI behavior and not the outsourcing of the modules that is causing these endless delays...
It's difficult to playtest a scenario if you do not have a working/finished gameengine to test them on...

I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that the 4.01 patch fixed several bugs I'd seen reported on the forums, even though they weren't listed in the patch notes. In many cases I wasn't aware that BFC had even officially acknowledged them. It's been fun to find these things, so I thought I'd start a thread to compile them. I'm grateful to the BFC staff and testers who have harvested these and fixed them, and I'm curious what others have found! 
Here's what  I've seen so far:
1) In CMFB, Volksgrenadier Sturm squads no longer have extra Assistant leaders. Reported and acknowledged after the 4.0 upgrade in 2016, now fixed:
2) In CMFI, Italian HMG teams no longer carry superfluous US 60mm mortar ammunition. Noted back in 2013, in 2017, and again in March 2019 but now fixed:
3) In the CMFI Troina campaign, US infantry company MG teams used to have M1919A4s instead of M1919A6s--but no longer. I noted that here in 2017: 
4) In CMBN, you can now buy Vickers teams in QBs without getting XO teams instead. @Oliver_88 confirmed this. 
5) Perhaps related to (4), in CMBN and CMFI, CW Vickers platoon 2IC teams no longer have erroneous MG icons, as used to be true (noted here):
6) In CMBN, the problem with acquiring mortar ammo from CW Carrier Platoon vehicles is fixed, confirmed by @domfluff here:
7) In CMBN, US MMG teams no longer fire off a rifle grenade as a "parting shot" after an area fire Target Light order is cancelled. I noticed this under 4.0 back in 2017 and I saw it again just now with my version of CMBN 3.0. But it seems to be gone in 4.01!
8 Another pet peeve of mine, in CMFI 4.0 US units with area fire orders would fire off their AT rifle grenade before their HE grenades, instead of saving it to use against armor. (At least, that's what I observed and noted). Not true in CMFI after the patch! (I also noticed that under 4.0, unlike 3.0, early US rifle squads carried two rifle grenade launchers. This hasn't been changed in 4.01, so I assume it was a deliberate TO&E update.)
Patch notes themselves here:
 
 

I actually love the length. Gives me a chance to get invested in what is going on and follow the details of the action. 

I know it is a typo, but it is such a lovely thought. "H.Q. get me a florist squad right away!"

Actually, that's exactly the bunker I was referring to in this thread.
As Ian responded - another team, or two, covering the back door and within  30 seconds of small arms the defenders will evade. Sometimes a demo will be used but it's not required. A few grenades do the trick. 

Thanks, that makes sense then...
I'll bring some help in😏

INVERTED KILLSACK
Moments after the Bradley engages the single ATGM team on Hill 113, a worst case scenario develops. An entire company of T-72AV tanks appear along the ridgeline of Hill 113. My entire force suddenly finds itself in a killsack. Most of my assets are deployed. The infantry are in the process of advancing on and clearing objectives, with their Bradley’s sitting in overwatch positions. Further, most of my tanks are either engaged at point blank range with the remains of the T-72 company on the reverse slope, with their sides and rear facing Hill 113. I only have a handful of tanks in overwatch observing the direction of Hill 113.

This is an extremely dangerous situation. The potential exists here for OpFor to inflict severe casualties on my force in a very short amount of time, and all of this can occur without me being able to properly react. In short, it could all be over for Task Force Miller.

The drama kicks off immediately. CPT Miller’s 66 tank, part of the handful of tanks on overwatch of Hill 113, is fired on by one of the enemy T-72s. A half second later, the 66 tank engages the same T-72 that fired at it. The sabot from the T-72 crashes into the lower glacis plate of the 66 tank, but is defeated.

The T-72 is not so lucky. The sabot from the 66 tank hits and penetrates its target, sending the sabot through the chin of the turret and out the back, detonating the ammo stored in the turret on its way through.
What follows is another short, violent tank duel. The other tanks in overwatch, including 2 tanks on the MSR, engage the threat on Hill 113. Bradley’s, including the infantry company commanders track, engage with TOW missiles. Sabot rounds and ATGMs (TOW’s from the Bradleys, AT-11s from the T-72s, and AT-5a’s from a few BMP-2s) zip past each other.

Despite the excellent gunnery of my tanks and Bradley’s, not all shots find their targets. The T-72s are firing from behind a berm at an elevation advantage, making them tough targets to hit. A number of sabot rounds and TOW missiles miss, and some that hit are defeated by the combined armor and angling of the T-72s.

Casualties are suffered on both sides. I quickly lose an Abrams when an enemy AT-11 tank fired ATGM slams into the top turret of one of my Abrams as it tries to orient itself towards the new threat. The ATGM punches through the soft top turret armor and explodes inside, killing the entire crew.

A moment later, one of the tanks engaged in a knife fight with the enemy T-72s in the reverse slope killsack takes multiple hits to the rear of its turret. It too is quickly destroyed, taking its entire crew with it.

Bradley’s from 3rd platoon in overwatch of their infantry currently clearing the woods of NAI 1 are hit next. One enemy sabot round destroys 2 of them, punching clean through the first Brad and into the second. If there is a silver lining to this, it is that the infantry was already dismounted.

My tanks and Bradley’s quickly increase their return fire, and soon gain fire superiority. A flurry of killing blows follows, and within the next 20 seconds, most of the OpFor T-72 company on Hill 113 has been smashed.

This engagement occurred over the course of roughly 50 seconds. I had no chance to give new orders based on the new threat. All I could do was watch. Luckily for me, I had maintained decent overwatch positions with my reserve tanks, and many of my Bradley’s were in positions that granted them some level of concealment to the threat. The rest all came down to the gunnery skill of my crews and, in the case of my Abrams, their excellent armor that allowed them to survive frontal hits.
This could have been disastrous for my forces. If I had not maintained good overwatch, I could have been stuck waiting an entire minute to react to the new threat on Hill 113. With modern weapons and targeting, as well as it being an entire company of enemy tanks, a minute would have been more than enough time for the T-72s to destroy/cripple most of my soft/vulnerable assets caught in the open. Remember, if I lose more than 30% of my force, I lose the battle.
What saved me from defeat has more to do with basic tactical fundamentals and less to do with equipment or technology (though equipment and technology certainly helps). All elements, while moving through the open, positioned in the open, or overwatching smaller assets like infantry, were in turn being covered themselves. Further, I knew Hill 113 was key terrain based on its near dominating sightlines covering the part of the map my Task Force has to initially deploy across. If I had not had my rearmost tanks oriented towards Hill 113 overwatching the rest of my Task Force, the T-72 attack could have been a complete disaster for me. Additionally, if my opponent had committed his two tank companies at the same time (the company in the reverse slope position, and the company up on Hill 113) he could have overwhelmed my vehicles by catching me in a deadly crossfire. 20 T-72 tanks, firing at me from different directions, elevations, and distances likely would have caused much more damage to my forces.
For now, I’ve managed to keep my Task Force intact. However, these killsack engagements are a sobering reminder of how quickly I can lose my command, and how crucial basic tactical fundamentals are regardless of weapons and technology.

On the contrary:  It helps point the beta tester in the right direction.
What we think we know is
1.  Not across the game platform but localized to CMBN
2.  Activity often happens around Bocage.
3. Happens when the game is patched to 4.01
Beta testers continue to look at this.  

"Ad Hoc at Chef du Pont" is a semi-fictitious scenario based on the ASL scenario of the same name and the ASL scenario "Gavin Take", in which General James Gavin and two scratch columns of paratroopers try to fight or sneak their way to a critical bridge of the the Merderet River early on 6th July 1944. The situation is historical but the map is inspired by the ASL map, but with lots of adjustments to make it suitable for CMBN.
It's a first try at a full scenario and was actually created a couple of months ago.  I was wondering why I hadn't had any feedback at all when I remembered I hadn't mentioned it in the game's own forum...  
It's available at The Proving Grounds:
https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tpg2/cm-battle-for-normandy/ad-hoc-at-chef-du-pont/
...or from DropBox:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ebl7z9rp9rtwrcn/ASL - Ad Hoc at Chef du Pont.btt?dl=0
Feedback welcomed, good, bad and constructive.
 

Yes, that's what I recall as well.  Thanks for the clarification.
What I also liked about CM1 was that sound contacts were not accurate the way that they are in CM2.  You could blast away at a sound contact in CM1 and miss by many meters.  It took me some time to realize that if you shoot at an enemy sound contact in CM2 it's highly likely you can suppress or do damage.  That seemed less realistic than the way it was implemented in CM1.  But, then again, perhaps in RL, sound contacts are actually accurate(??)

CONTACT 
As soon as 1st platoon dismounts in front of NAI 3, they make contact.

It appears to be a squad sized element split between two buildings. Bradley gunnery is up to a high standard, and rounds are immediately pumped into both buildings before the enemy has a chance to fire at my dismounting infantry.

The enemy is suppressed, and friendly infantry begins to cautiously advance forward to clear the rest of the complex.

Suddenly an enemy ATGM flies out from behind NAI 3 and slams into a Bradley, destroying it and killing the driver.

Moments later, an Abrams in overwatch spots a BMP-2 hiding behind NAI 3 and destroys it with a HEAT round.

Just as suddenly, more enemy infantry are spotted in the buildings, and a close range firefight breaks out.

The firefight is short and violent. No friendly casualties are suffered.

A lull in the fighting momentarily occurs, and I use the opportunity to push up a scout team armed with a javelin to try to get eyes on the second BMP-2 to the rear of NAI 3.

As the scout team is moving up, they are suddenly engaged by the second BMP-2.

30mm HE rounds streak down the road and explode against trees and the ground, though miraculously none of my scouts are hit by the fire. One of the scouts is armed with an AT-4 and takes a shot at the BMP.

 
Unfortunately the shot falls short, but the scouts are able to crawl out of the line of fire and suffer no casualties. The BMP poses a problem due to its positioning, but the encounter could have gone much worse.
A survivor of the Bradley’s barrage pops up and fires a few bursts. This time, the enemy’s aim is good, and I suffer a casualty.

My infantry, as well as an Abrams in overwatch, return fire with small arms and coax. Its enough to finish off the lone enemy soldier.
The BMP-2 is in a good keyhole position, covering down a road that separates my infantry from the buildings on NAI 3. Crossing a road like this is already a very dangerous thing to do, and is known as a Linear Danger Area (LDA). In order to deal with this serious threat, I move Scout Team 3 off of their observation post and down into a position where they can get eyes on the BMP and engage it with their Javelin.

The scout team is able to get into position and take aim. The scout fires moments later, and the missile hits its mark.

On the right flank, 3rd platoon advances cautiously into the woods covering NAI 1. It doesn’t take long to find the enemy. A fire team takes fire from it’s front and suffers a minor casualty. Thankfully, the soldiers body armor prevents the wound from being serious.

One of the scout teams helping to clear the woods pushes up and spots the enemy. They begin engaging with rifle fire and grenades.

Having pinned down the enemy, the scout team capitalizes on the situation and rushes the fighting position.


The scouts kill the remaining enemy soldier and occupy the fighting position for themselves. In this short but violent exchange, I was lucky. I only suffered one man lightly wounded, while killing 2 enemy soldiers and taking their fighting position. The last thing I want to do is get sucked into a costly close quarter fight in these woods. It’s not even my main objective.

Moments later, another enemy position is discovered further into the woods, on a very slight reverse slope.

 
My goal is to quickly sweep the edges of the forest for enemy assets that can pose a long range threat to my advance down the MSR, such as ATGM teams or artillery spotters. Once these threats have been found and neutralized, the infantry will fall back and let the armored vehicles strongpoint the position. That way, if the enemy decides to attack out of the woods, they will be cut down in the open by my vehicles.
Here is an overhead view of the woods covering NAI 1:

This should help to illustrate my intentions with NAI 1. I would need much more than a platoon of infantry to clear these woods, and even then it would be long and bloody. It simply isn’t worth the effort. The good news is, the terrain appears to be too dense for the enemy vehicles to emerge in any semblance of order or speed. As long as NAI 1 is strong pointed by friendly armor, I should be able to keep it bottled up and it will not pose a threat to my advance down the MSR.
2nd platoon (infantry) along with elements of 2nd platoon (armored) and the Task Force command element move forward to establish new overwatch positions along the right side of the MSR.


A call comes over the radio informing the JTAC that the Apache called in on the possible enemy armor concentration behind NAI 1 is now on station. Moments later, a missile is seen streaking into the sky.

The shot came so fast that the Apache pilot didn’t have time to pop flares in defense. The enemy missile hits the Apache, destroying it. This is an expensive lesson to learn. The airspace is not safe for aircraft. Half of my available fire support is now restricted until I can proof the airspace.
However, there is hardly any time to contemplate this new dilemma. The two tanks from 2nd platoon (armored) advance to a berm and discover…

What appears to be an entire enemy tank company in a reverse slope position, at point blank range. Before either of my tanks have a chance to react, one of the enemy tanks fires at Number 3 tank. The round impacts the berm, causing no damage. My tanks are quick to respond. In rapid succession, they pump 2 rounds into targets to their direct front, destroying them.


The exchange is not one sided. Before either of my tanks have a chance to reload, number 3 tank takes a penetrating hit to its lower glacis plate.

The Abrams is destroyed, but all 4 crewmen survive the hit and are able to bail out of the tank without suffering a casualty.
While this is happening, the infantry from 2nd platoon dismount their Bradley’s and begin advancing on NAI 11. They are immediately greeted by a hail of gunfire from enemy infantry occupying the buildings on NAI 11.


The fire causes no casualties, and is quickly returned and silenced by 25mm HE fired from the Bradley’s overwatching the infantry as they dismount.
I’m now in a precarious position. I have deployed infantry and their Bradley’s dangerously close to enemy tanks in a reverse slope position. Further, I now only have 1 tank directly observing and engaging what appears to be a company of enemy T-72s. If the T-72s are able to maneuver out of the reverse slope position, they could destroy a significant number of Bradley’s and Abrams at point blank range with just a single volley. I have tanks in overwatch positions, but they would likely not be able to react in time to prevent a mini-catastrophe.
In response, I quickly maneuver 2 teams of Abrams to either flank of the reverse slope position to keep the enemy engaged and hopefully pin him down/destroy him so the T-72s cannot threaten my IFVs and infantry in the open.

What happens next is pure chaos.

Well I will be looking at the maps as well.  Terrain impacts the AI.  Elevation tiles do, too.  They can't be overlooked when evaluating a poor AI reaction when under fire.  An AI controlled unit seeks near-by cover and concealment. It might be tall grass or a slight terrain depression.  At the moment of reaction the AI won't always move away from fire, but under it. This is not to say that all is well and eat your broccoli... Beta testers will be looking at it all from more than just one angle. We are listening.  We will be evaluating and we'll let you know.
Thank you for posting.  It's how things get fixed.
 

This thread is only a week old.  That is nowhere near enough time to collect and examine data particularly for TAC AI issues.  You should certainly do whatever feels right for you playing the game, but I would certainly not make any conclusions on cause and effect here.  Making the game "unplayable' seems a bit of an overstatement yet that is a subjective evaluation.  If you feel it is unplayable, then it is.  What I would suggest is rather than delete completely is to do an additional install so you can continue to participate in testing.  As you seem to be able to reliably duplicate the issue, your assistance in validating items could be really helpful.

It's almost the middle of May 2019 and it's probably fair to say the new modules for CMFI and CMRT are not around the corner yet.  The community showed remarkable patience all in all and will continue to do so in the coming months. It would however be a justified and fair gesture if BF gave us some bones, in the shape of a series of good screenshots for both modules. After all this time in development there has to be something interesting to show to us. I'm not talking about release dates or pages full of information. Just some juicy screenshots so we all know what we are waiting for and why it is worth waiting for.
It's time for some bones, me thinks.

OK. Been quite a while since I posted anything, let alone an update on this mod. I knocked out a Republican Guard portrait this morning (very pleased with him) and figured I'd give you guys a peek into what went into creating him. It's all pretty cut-and-dry and should say all it needs to visually but basically I started with the first pic which I found a few hours ago and used facets of others I have collected over the last year to spiff him up and bring him in line with the rest of the mod (you never know when a pic will come in handy).  It's a constant fight trying to make the faces look uniform and not like they are all from disparate sources. The overall aesthetic isn't perfect but I think they'll do.
 
 

 
 
 
 
As it stands I have made 1173 portraits so far. The Army is done, Marines are done, Brits are done, and I am working on the Syrians. After that comes, the Canadians, Dutch, and Germans. I still need the info on the formations for them. Hopefully they won't be as big as the US and UK. That's it.
 
Mord.

CMBN 4.0 Patch Has New QB Maps.  They are easily identified by "2019" in the Map name.  I took a good run at the bocage maps and personally enjoyed the game play with them.  There are a few maps devoted to the Rhone Valley of Southern France. So river crossing and Hills. 

Now that makes the story even more interesting. 
IMO the C2 part of the battle adds minor missions within the larger mission and makes the battles feel more authentic and interesting.  It's made me add alternative methods of C2 to my orders / unit tasking form that I maintain on a Word Document.
Example: On order 2nd Platoon will attack east into the town of Xxxx in order to support 1st platoon.  Alternative signal for 2nd Platoon's attack is a red flare.  Then when it is time for 2nd Platoon to attack and if 2nd Platoon is out of C2 the Company command team can pop smoke (simulating a flare).  2nd platoon can now attack.  If the backup plan for the flare was not included in the orders / unit tasking form on the Word document then the flare can't be used.  2nd platoon can't attack until C2 is established or a runner is used etc. 
Lots of cool things can be done by the player to add interest and immersion to the game.     

For anyone interested, I just uploaded a blog post on Using Listening Halts.  This is a subject I have discussed many times before in my AARs, but have never really written at length about it.  Hope its useful.
Bil  

I've really enjoyed it, it was interesting to read about your thought process behind your orders. Well done on the victory!

I've really enjoyed it, it was interesting to read about your thought process behind your orders. Well done on the victory!

Thanks for the good wishes. I think I am 75% there. Another year maybe...

I gave up gaming for three years after my old dad died. The Big Bundle was my first purchase, and I got addicted straight away. May you continue to enjoy your return.

Different type of profession but still relevant for the discussion:
I am a pilot flying about 200 passenger per leg from A to B.
There are a LOT of variables at work in the process getting passengers and their luggage from A to B safely and in a timely manner.
There are a few cardinal sins to be made when things do not go as planned and get people angry quickly in my experience:
-Not giving any information at all
-Making promises you can’t make true.
-Lying about the situation
I often see that we are affraid to bring bad news and then try to make plans to keep people happy as long as we can, or just decide not to give information in order to avoid discussion.
This doesn’t work and frankly, people are perfectly capable to accepting bad news.
Its all about how the flow of information is managed once things go wrong that define wether those 200 people disembark with respect or outrage in the end.
- Addressing people frequently even though there isn’t any news is very much appreciated.
-Giving a timeframe helps people feeling respected even though you might have to adjust that timeframe once in a while.
I am not saying I am a guru, but these are important lessons we get taught as captains and I feel its quite applicable to whats going on here lately.
Just my two cents, really.

MINUTE 28
Looks like the last objective is hot. Several enemy moves were spotted.

Seems they are retreating.

But no, others are fighting hard...

I am advancing more squads under fire protection of the others. I am missing a smoke screen here but my halftrack offsets that.

The tank crew is finally back. Tank will move but I am worried about those optics. At least, the machine gun works and it does not need optics, right?

Progression came to a halt.

A panicking guy just found a mine I think. Ouch!

This is not over yet clearly.

But, I have a little surprise for next turn.